All Are Home---One, at Least, Will Stay There

As I reported earlier in the week, both Raquel and Marcia are at home after their stays in the hospital. Raquel went home on Saturday a week ago, but her parents thought it was wise for her not to get out last Sunday. We saw her tonight (picture at left taken with cell phone in low light) and she may get out of the house tomorrow. She still has to go for therapy to loosen the remnants of her lung congestion.

Marcia is at home, too, but the doctor told her to stay at home as much as possible for the next month, and to especially avoid closed environments with a lot of people. Her immune system is vulnerable, so she is also to peel all fruits and vegetables she eats to avoid the possibility of any chemicals that might be on the peeling. Her spirit is good, and she's looking forward to giving her testimony at the church, as well as exorting the rest of the church regarding the importance of being zealous for the Lord. It looks like it will be a month or so before she gets to do that in person.

Jackie, who has not been hospitalized lately, has not been well this week.

As for us, Abbie and I can blame our aches, pains, and physical discomforts on work. We've made an early foray into spring cleaning, and will likely be cleaning until spring has long since passed. The first task was moving the piano to the other side of the house, then putting up shelves in the living room (drilling into iron-hard stone walls), and taking advantage of a break in the rainy weather to get up on the room and patched the cracked tiles that were allowing water to come into the kitchen in torrents when the rains come from the south and southwest. After lifting the piano, and straining muscles to maintain my position on the steep tile roof, I have a continual reminder that I have done some physical work.

Abbie has begun going through boxes of things that have been stored for years in the attic and the garage, vestiges of the various moves and phases of construction we've gone through in the past 29 years. A lot of stuff is getting thrown out...and probably one half, at least, of what isn't, should be. But it isn't easy when she comes across things that belonged to the kids, for example...at the end of the day, she feels like she's picked up the piano or been sitting precariously on the roof.